Re-purposing a Christmas Card

I generally keep Christmas cards from special people or if I really like the message or picture or think I can re-purpose it some how. {Don't you know my husband loves that about me!} Actually, I don't think he minds.

Take a look:

Last year, we received this card from our Aunt Willie Sam and Uncle Louis. I loved that it was a shape card and beautiful! I knew my Stickles were going to glam it right up!!! (Apparently I was too excited to get started...I don't have a before picture...image the above without glitter...I know it's hard. Everything is better with glitter.)

Anyone have any tips on fussy cutting chipboard?

I loved Jonathan's Aunt Willie Sam instantly. She reminds me so so much of my Nana. Even her hand writing is similar so I knew I had to save and re-porpose the inside of the card too! Really, it's the way she makes her "L"s.

I cut a piece of patterned paper to fit the chipboard on the back of the card front and mod podge'd the pieces together with the inside of the card in the middle. A little Tim Holtz distress ink around the edges and I thought it turned out great!

I intend to lean it in my kitchen window at Christmas time this year. But it was dark when I finished it all up and got it dry enough to handle so I changed up the photo shoot.

I love that little shelf area in my bathroom...yes, I was taking pictures in the bathroom. :)

It's the bathroom right out side of my craft room. It has a cute pedestal sink and is just quaint. Our guests don't use it because there's a larger one across the hall...but I pretend they do. :)

So, do you save Christmas cards too?

Partying at Jennifer Rizzo's place. Check it out here.

Another Joy to the World!

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "Starry Eyed" you had to create a card with a star. This was my only star...and I love it!

On my Pinterest board for Cards, I have the inspiration for this card. Click {here} to see the original. Edited* to add: I also entered this card to the ABC Christmas Challenge called "K is for keeping it simple". ( I can't seem to make the link from my iPad. I'll fix it, I promise. Until then, go here: http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/05/k-is-for-keep-it-simple.html

In the Spotlight: Christmas

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "In the Spotlight" you had to create a card with something from the sky or that flies. I decided that if one was in outer space, one would see the Earth...right??

I have made cards with this "spotlight" idea before...but I didn't know the technique had an actual name.

Here's another look.

Are you a glitter lover too?

Joy to the World!!

There's a crop going on at CardMaker Magazine Forum. Click over {here} and see the challenges...come play along!! (Anyone can play and it's free.)

For the challenge called "Bling me up Scotty" you had to create a card with something from the sky or that flies. I decided that if one was in outer space, one would see the Earth...right??

You were supposed to add some bling too! I colored the ribbon around the Earth with a gel glitter pen.

Edited to add: I also linked this card to the Winter Wonderland Challenge to create a Christmas card (of course) with embossing as a feature on your card. Click {here} to party like it's Christmas.

So, have you made a Christmas card lately?

Recent Cards

I wanted to show you a few cards I've made recently.

Here's a Christmas card I made using punches:


I gave it a little depth with 3-d dots.


For this card, I used an ornament punch and re-purposed it as a light bulb for a string of Christmas lights.


This card is a fail...I think. I was trying to make a quilted-looking card and use an unusual shape.


What do you do with your "fail" creations?

A Serene Christmas

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Lora and I spent a nice Friday afternoon making cards for my Grandma's Bazaar. Thank you Lora; my Grandma will LOVE them all!!

I made a card pack (of 6) for Grandma's sale. It will be the first weekend in November.


Of course, they are all slightly different...that's how us random girls roll!


I also busted out my Patterned Pines stamp set and made these. I just remember how this set totally had me at hello! But then so did the Serene Snowflakes. Perhaps my "hello"s are pretty easy to have. Well, I do talk to strangers!



Oh Merry Christmas in June!!

Merry Christmas from my Circus to yours!!

Here's our Christmas card from the cutting room floor:

I just think it's hilarious! I am sure some won't but... whatever, it makes me laugh. I love how goofy and happy we are in this picture. It's a self portrait I took during JJ's birthday weekend; we were having so much fun with friends!

I will show you our actual Christmas card later. Funny that I don't make our Christmas cards I guess. I generally make lots of Christmas cards for Grandma and for gifts and such. Plus, this year we will be sending about 175 Christmas cards...giant family... so no way do I want to sign on to make all those!

Stinking Cute Gift Card Holder

Seems like everyone's Christmas list this year contains gift cards. I guess that's ok. They are certainly easy enough to locate... and you get to choose from all the cute styles. But, I really like to wrap presents. I like the way they look under our tree; I like to see the look on the recipient's face as they discover their gift hiding inside.

Where am I going with this?

Well, I wanted to find a cool/cute/neat/creative way to give our gift cards besides just sticking them inside a regular card. So, short of wrapping up big boxes that contain only a tiny gift card... I made these! And I was spurred into action by a swap (now closed) on CardMaker.

Somewhere on the internet, I saw this idea... I think it was a little different but I lost the paper so I really don't know, nor can I give credit. (If this is your idea, thank you and let me know so I can give you all the credit.)

So anyway, I busted out my Deck the Halls paper and my new Top Note die and got to work!

This is where I started. Cute. But not Stinking Cute! Although, those tiny pearls are nearly Stinking Cute all by their sweet little selves!

So, I added this sentiment. Of course the "Naughty deserve something nice". After all, there are different levels of naughty. We are only talking about the ornery people, here. Not the really bad ones... they still get coal!

I used all the snazzy twill tape I had so I busted out this crochet lace that I got in the fabric section at Wal-Mart. I big-fat-squishy {heart} it! Anyway, after I got this one complete, I just thought it eeked my Mom. Looks like it walked right out of a Flapper Party circa 1922. Not that my Mom looks like she was around in 1922 but we both love that era! (We aren't suppose to get Mom Christmas presents; we are suppose to spend it at the beach instead. But, I may just have to get her a gift card so she can have this holder!)

This last one is just to show you that it opens/closes with a brad at the top. Easy peasy and stinkin cute!

Christmas Gift Tags

I made about 22 or so of these for Grandma's Bazaar. (I cut out some mega cool ones with my Cricut too but I was so excited to give them to her that I forgot to take a picture--- I know right! Who does that?!)

Anyway, this was super east!!

I do love that ornament punch! The swirly ornament stamp (that you see in red in the middle and to the left is from Tags Til Christmas, a new SU set. The other stamp (with less swirls and such) is from the Delightful Decorations set. I am just smugly in love with both of those sets! I think it's the ornament punch that I am truly smitten with!

Oh and, I entered these into the CardMaker challenge called, Bling for You. It's super hard to tell from the picture but there are tiny half pearls at the center of each tag...Stinking cute if you ask me!

Iris Folding Answers

First of all, thanks for stopping by on World Card Making Day. In case you missed my iris folding card, you can see that whole post here. I must say, I was really impressed with how my card turned out!!

I received so many lovely comments {thank you} and a few questions. I'd like to take this time to answer the questions.

1. Percy the Black Cat commented that she thought it "would be interesting with fabric". I had not thought of that before the Cat's comment but I immediately thought of Stampin Up's new Christmas fabric! Now that would be fancy!!!

2. Several comments including one from Gail Varland mused that making the card must have taken a long time. Honestly, it took about an hour. This was my FIRST try, I had to choose papers, then choose again :) and then re-cut them because I had been too chincy the first time and my strips weren't long enough.

3. Several people said they love the technique and the card, then followed with "but I can't do that". To which I say, "Yes you can!". Seriously, with a pattern, the directions I wrote and the Youtube video (check the original post)... it is super easy...for real!!

4. Lora, you can come over to my Cavern anytime!! :)

5. There was one more comment with several questions but... I accidently deleted it and I can't seem to locate it now. Sorry!

(If you left a question and I missed or deleted it or you have another, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email. If I know the answer, I would love to help you out. Even if I don't know the answer, I will post your question and see if my friend Terrie stops by...she's the iris folding Queen!!)

CardSwaps World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!

Iris Folding!!! It's new to me but how stinking cute is this!?! (OK, don't skip to the pictures quite yet!!)

Ok, the dirt: You are on the CardSwaps World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop! Welcome!! You should have arrived here from Jeanette's. Doesn't she have cute stuff!? If you got here differently, make sure you start at the beginning and work your way around. You won't be disappointed, I promise!!

Challenge: CASE challenge. I found a thread on Iris folding on CardMaker message board and decided to try my hand! The thread references recipes found on Circle of Crafters for inspiration. I chose this cutie. There's also an article in CM News Letter!

Technique: I watched this video posted by nightcats (very well done) to get my feet wet. Did I mention that I had never done Iris Folding??

I traced the pattern onto card stock (held it up to the patio door).

Next, cut out the inside only. You will want to preserve the outside or the negative image. Then, tape your negative image over the recipe or map and start laying your papers down, following the pattern.

Oh! About the papers... Choose your papers (4 different ones for this pattern), cut them into 3/4" strips. The video said 5/8 but I found these to be just a little too small given the size of my pattern. Then start taping them down:

I just used scotch tape. Keep going, and going, and going. Once you have covered all the numbers, flip it over and here's what you will have from the pretty side:

I added a Rich Razzleberry center and a sparkly gold topper. Love it!!

Be sure to hop around!! Leave a comment on every blog by midnight CST, October 3, 2010, to be entered in to a drawing for prizes (Waa--hoo!!). The full list of prizes are on Lora's blog.

My story: I started papercrafting...dabbling in scrapbooking over 10 years ago. I was in college, had no money so I just used whatever I could come up with.... And I loved it!! I had made a few cards here and there but just wasn't too happy with the way they turned out. Then!! About a year and a half ago, my friend Lora (who was really just my neighbor back then) invited me to a Stampin UP party. My cards and my wallet haven't been the same since!! But I love it! I have made some new great new friends and met tons of people through playing with paper. Probably the coolest thing that has came about primarily because of paper was an extremely successful fundraiser to benefit my Relay for Life team for the American Cancer Society. Last winter I hosted a Cancer Crop and raised over $1200 for my Relay team. WOW!!

Your next stop on the hop is Faith Skrdla at Designed 2 Delight. Hop on over and See her!! But before you go, leave me some love so you can win!!

Here's the whole list:

Lora

Jeanette

Laura <--- You are here!!

Faith Skrdla (Designed 2 Delight)

Redonna

SusieQ - http://lilbitofme-susan.blogspot.com/

Jane - http://jane-notsuchaplainjane.blogspot.com/

Lori (representing Stretch N Bubbles) -http://lorispurplegiraffes.blogspot.com/

Irina - http://sami-creativityworld.blogspot.com

Meredith - http://whatsnextma.blogspot.com/

Ana - http://anaggarciam.blogspot.com/

Dustin Pike - http://dustinpike.blogspot.com/

Diana - http://b4ustamp.blogspot.com

Angelina - http://angel-artdesign.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://handstampedbyashley.blogspot.com/

Sketch Challenge...Vintage Christmas

I am the Sketch hostess this week at CardMaker. They have two challenges each week. Check it out, it's a great site!! I guess I loaded these backwards...oops. Well anyway, above is my card. The background paper (dark red) is a little shiny and was incredibly hard to photograph... it came out looking like cheap plastic in the picture. I inked the edges of the background paper using a used dryer sheet and SU Craft ink; It worked well but was messy!!

I really like this stamp set. It's cute, has a bit of nostalgia to it and gives me a great reason to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig!

Obviously not a graphic design guru here! Actually, I was going to just draw the sketch in Word but after two clicks decided that it wasn't really that big of a deal!

Thanks for stopping by!

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"

I love this card. I totally cased it but I have no idea from where... a friend has a giant book of ideas ripped from other magazines... so much fun to look through. I made this for 2 challenges:

*Magical Melodies where you are suppose to use a song of some sorts. I used the background stamp of music (I've had this stamp for awhile and couldn't find the perfect place for it... it goes good).

*ABC Christmas "L is for Lights". The "L is for Lights" challenge had the extra of adding a tree. The pictures don't really show it but the black looking brads are actually silver... for tiny white lights. Then of course, the reds are for Christmas balls.

My Grandma's church has a Bazaar each fall for craft items. Last winter, I made her several card sets to sell. She sold them all before the event even happened! So this year, I am starting early!

Paper: from my stash

Brads: Circle/tree topper (SU), Red (Brazzil Basics Paper), Silver (Recollections)

Stamp: Stampabilities "Composer's Dream"

Bah! Humbug!: Challenge 20: Silhouettes...

Did I ever mention to you that I love CHRISTmas!?! Well, I do and I love this stamp called 'Dasher' from Stampin Up! I think he's just handsome.I made this card for a challenge over at Bah! Humbug!; you were suppose to use a silhouette. I also used Ashley's sketch challenge over at CardMaker. We will see if she throws me out for using an image instead of a sentiment. Either way, I had fun making the card!
The pictures are kind of dark and then over-exposed because it's dark and Ashley's challenge ends in 15 minutes and of course... I waited until the last darn minute.

The best thing about card making is that I feel as though I am being uber domestic because I am down in the Cavern which is in close proximity to my laundry room. I feel like I am doing double duty... except, well, that's just what I tell myself. :)

Merry Sock-mas!!

Let me just say that I love this stamp set! I made this card for a paper piecing challenge at CardMaker. I pieced the following parts: light brown monkey parts, red mouth, red on his Santa hat and the ribbon on the package.
I think this picture shows off the card better than the top. There are 3-D dots under the package and the sentiment. AND!!! Stickles on the "fur" of the hat.

Christmas Gift Tags

I must say, I love, LOVE chocolate chip and real red (ink from Stampin Up!) together; they are the perfect pair! In my opinion, of course.
Now that I have Stamp-a-ma-Jig, I won't have the off center image like above but... of course I meant to do it this way, this time! Of course I did!
And, don't forget Dasher!! He's so fancy!!
And that ribbon is left over from our wedding... mmm.
And, the Delightful Decorations Ornament punch!! Talk about making cool tags, fast!!

I made all these tags for my Grandma's birthday last year. I think I got alot of my love for crafts from her so I knew she would LOVE a tin o' tags for her birthday... And she did; she said she used them all!!! (I guess she knows what she's getting next year for her birthday!)

Christmas Card

Nope, I'm not this far ahead... yet!

This is a card from a 6-pack I made for my Grandma's Church Bazaar last fall.

Other than the thank you cards for our wedding, this was one of the first cards I had made.

Not too shabby for a beginner if I do say so!

I cut the snowman out with my Cricut, pieced the scarf and hat with random paper from my stash. The eyes are brads from my stash and I embossed the snowflakes from SU's Serene Snowflakes set (I must say... I LOVE that set!!).

Sizzix Snowman from Terrie

*This is snowman is the first thing I cut with my new Big Kick that I got for Christmas (Thank you, MIL)!

*Terrie, over at CardMaker sent me the die- Thank you Terrie! The card is leaning in a 'twig' picture frame; I am still working on a good backdrop for photographing my creations!

*This card is a prototype for some that I will be sending to Grandma's Bazaar this fall.

Cards for Grandma's Bazaar

Here are a couple of cards that I made up (6 pack of each) for my Grandma's Church Bazaar. It's a craft show/fundraiser for her United Methodist Women's Fellowship group. They were a pretty big hit; I am not sure they even made it to the event! I have already started on the cards for next year!